
“We try to be together, we try to stay close and support each other out there. And for our nights when they’re going well, it’s because they’re doing certain things. On the nights things are going well for them, it’s because we’re doing certain things. “It’s really a five-man group,” Burns said after Thursday’s 3-2 overtime win in Game 5 to eliminate the New Jersey Devils. Yet the collective approach has worked so well that the Hurricanes are finding the net more frequently than they did in the regular season despite being down in bodies - and now has them in the Eastern Conference Final. The Hurricanes weren’t supposed to be able to do this: advancing in the playoffs after a series of injuries hit their forward group to sideline some of their most naturally talented goal-scorers. “Well,” Fast said, “you make it pretty easy for us as well.”

One of those forwards, Jesper Fast, sat to his right and couldn’t hold back. (AP) - It wasn’t long after the Carolina Hurricanes had closed out a second playoff opponent when defenseman Brent Burns began heaping praise on the team’s forwards for making it easy for the defensemen to jump into the offense.
